by a contributor

Words that are not words in real life. My
subconscious loves making up words and proper names and convincing me
they are perfectly acceptable for use. For example: “TFTBNT” (an
alcoholic drink), “MULC” (a known acronym for My Unlucky Child—what that
means, I don’t know), and “shinidying” (a metal device being sold for
only 19 cents, according to a newspaper ad).

Large, labyrinthine buildings. I
spend a great deal of time wandering around unfamiliar buildings in my
dreams. These buildings are never the same, but they are always huge and
populated by elaborate staircases, mysterious doors, and secret
passageways. Excessively large bathrooms and elevator cars also make
frequent appearances.

The “evil hallway.” Thankfully I no
longer have these dreams, but when I was young, they were a staple. The
dreams always involved a simple door at the end of a dark, ominous
hallway. People in my life seemed to take turns living in the apartment
behind that door. In the dreams, I referred to it as the “evil hallway.”

Light switches that don’t work. Light
switches are never scarce, but they hardly ever work either. In one
dream, I found a total of six different switches arranged in an odd
circular pattern on the wall. Every single one was useless. I have come
to the conclusion that perhaps I watch too many horror films. (But wait,
there’s no such thing as too many horror films!)

False memories, and that nagging, elusive feeling of déjà vu. In
a great number of my dreams, I will “recall” events from my childhood
that absolutely never happened. The people involved actually existed,
and the locations are accurate. But the memories are completely
fabricated. And everything that happens in these dreams is always oddly
familiar to me somehow, as if something similar has happened before,
even though it never has. I find these dreams far more disturbing than
even the series of murderous dreams I experienced during my nights of
binge-watching Dexter.